The James Bond films are on hold indefinitely, thanks to money woes at MGM, the studio behind the spy series. But there's another movie character hitting theaters this month, and viewers could be forgiven if they thought he looked a little bit familiar.

In "The American,"
which opens Sept. 1, George Clooney plays Jack, an assassin who retreats to Italy after a job goes bad. He's no James Bond, but there's a Bond-like sense about him.

“Cubby Broccoli (the late producer of the Bond films) had Cary Grant in mind to play James Bond,” explained Rick Jewell, film professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, who teaches a class in Bond. “Of course, by that time (1962), Grant was too old to do it. But that was the model of James Bond he worked from, that kind of suave, incredibly handsome individual who also had a comic side to him. Someone who could be highly effective as an action hero, but also a romantic hero as well.

“For my money, George Clooney very nearly fills the bill. I’m sure they would have considered him except for one thing: that he is American and not British. Over the years they decided they were never going to cast somebody who wasn’t at least from the British Empire.”

“The American” does not fit snugly in the Bond milieu. Whereas Bond tangled with villains spawned from novelist Ian Fleming’s boundless imagination, and he did so in travelogue locales, Clooney’s hired assassin operates on grittier turf. Jack is more of a loner, hiding out in Italy waiting for a final assignment, and pursuing romance with a local woman rather than a seductress named Solitaire, Honey Ryder or Pussy Galore.

Like a golden age starBut it is Clooney’s movie star presence — a potent blend of brains, looks and charisma — that enables him to add Bond-like class to just about any film.

“I think he has an inherent likeability and native intelligence that aligns him with the stars of the golden age of Hollywood, like Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant,” said Scott Foundas, associate program director for the Film Society of Lincoln Center and a contributor to Film Comment magazine. “There are not many contemporary stars who invite those comparisons,” Foundas added. “He does.”

In 2005, upon the release of the Clooney-directed biopic of Edward R. Murrow, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” Foundas wrote a lengthy piece about Clooney for L.A. Weekly and found him to be engaging as a human being rather than as a star trying to be perceived as a human being.

“You certainly don’t feel with Clooney that he’s trying to sell you a bill of goods,” Foundas said. “When I wrote that piece, a friend of mine who I didn’t know at the time had worked for Clooney’s company told me he has some personality tics, like the way he leans into you to make a point. But that’s how he is. He isn’t putting on an act for a journalist. He is who he is. That definitely comes through.

“Sometimes in those situations you feel that people are trying to project an image of themselves, rather than just being themselves. Not with Clooney. That quality is connected to his popularity with audiences.”

Foundas also noted that Clooney makes excellent choices in roles, and he thinks that may partly be the result of “a long time struggling in actor hell in the ‘80s and even ‘90s, when he was sort of going nowhere, going from one TV sitcom after another.”

“There is a certain wisdom that comes with age,” he continued. “Clooney was almost 40 before he became a big star.”

Choosing smart partsPeter Debruge, film critic for Daily Variety, said Clooney came out of television’s “ER” and was “big screen ready.” Since then, he not only has made wise choices, but also bold ones.

“He seems to be unusually intelligent, and therefore he’s a good judge of material,” Debruge said. “That’s also borne with his involvement as a producer, including things he hasn’t starred in. He was a producer on ‘The Informant!’ which I felt was an underrated, very smart piece of material that didn’t perform too well. He definitely has a sense of humor, which you can find repeatedly in his work, even in things he directed.

“For instance, ‘Confessions of a Dangerous Mind’ was sort of a thinking man’s satire. It wasn’t a farce, it wasn’t too broad, and it definitely shows someone who is trying to challenge his audience.”

And that doesn’t sound like someone trying to emulate James Bond. “When you’re sort of a dapper looking star, you can coast on your good looks,” Debruge said. “Clooney has not chosen to do that.”

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Still, USC’s Jewell feels there isn’t that much of a distance between Clooney the spy in “The American” and Bond, and he only wishes the powers-that-be in Hollywood who cast the Bond films would agree with him (although he said he likes Daniel Craig, who currently occupies the part, if another installment ever gets made).

“Obviously he’s one of the more handsome guys going in movies,” Jewell said of Clooney. “Up until James Bond came along, a lot of spies in movies were Hollywood type actors like Alan Ladd and Fred MacMurray. They certainly were good looking guys, but they didn’t have the sexual charisma that Sean Connery brought to the role.

“I think Clooney has that. He’s handsome, but he also has some kind of indefinable quality that makes him attractive to the opposite sex.”

Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to TODAYshow.com. He lives in Los Angeles.

She's the one

George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin are snapped on a dinner date celebrating a friend's birthday in Santa Barbara, Calif., on April 27, 2014.

The Oscar-winning actor and the British human rights lawyer got engaged in April. Clooney famously dated a number of women over the years after being married and divorced once and saying he wasn't very good at it.
(Rachel Murray / Getty Images)
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He's the 'Men" man

Clooney poses on the red carpet as he arrives for the UK premiere of the film "The Monuments Men" in central London on Feb. 11, 2014.
(Andrew Cowie / AFP-Getty Images)
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Culturally sensitive

In Clooney's 2014 film "The Monuments Men," which he co-wrote, produced, directed and stars in, he appears (with Matt Damon) as a member of an Allied platoon in WWII tasked with saving priceless artworks before they are destroyed by Nazis.
(Claudette Barius / AP)
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Lost in space

In "Gravity," Clooney plays veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski, who is stranded in space after debris strikes the space shuttle where he is working.
(Courtesy Of Warner Bros. Picture / AP)
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Second best

Fans of Clooney love to pose with his image, even if it isn't the real deal. Here, members of the public say "cheese" alongside a waxwork model of the actor in London on Feb. 13, 2013.
(Carl Court / AFP - Getty Images)
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Lady in red

Sandra Bullock and Clooney stroll the red carpet together at the premiere of their new film "Gravity" on Aug. 28, 2013, which opened the Venice International Film Festival.
(Ettore Ferrari / EPA)
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Star power

Clooney takes a boat to the Lido Beach at the 70th annual Venice International Film Festival on Aug. 27, 2013. He was there to promote his new film "Gravity," which was shown out of competition at the event.
(Ettore Ferrari / EPA)
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Three amigos

Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and Clooney pose with the most prestigious Academy Award, a best picture prize for "Argo" on Feb. 24, 2013. Affleck starred, directed and produced; Clooney and Heslov, who often collaborate on films, were also producers on the film.
(Mike Blake / Reuters)
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Standing for a cause

Clooney is arrested during a demonstration outside the Embassy of Sudan in Washington, D.C., on March 16, 2012. United to End Genocide, the Enough Campaign and Amnesty International held a rally to call on the United States and world leaders to stop the violence in South Sudan and prevent hundreds of thousands of people from starving. Clooney and several others, including his father, were released hours later.
(Win Mcnamee / Getty Images)
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Testify!

Clooney smiles as he testifies at the Senate Foreign Relations Sudan and South Sudan: Independence and Insecurity hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington on March 14, 2012.
(Kris Connor / Getty Images)
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Oscar nominee

Clooney, a best actor nominee for his role in "The Descendants," and girlfriend Stacy Keibler arrive at the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 26, 2012. Clooney lost to "The Artist" star Jean Dujardin.

Another Golden night

Clooney and Keibler pose with his award for best actor in a motion picture -- drama for "The Descendants," backstage at the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 15, 2012.
(Lucy Nicholson / Reuters)
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Clooney for president!

Clooney stars as a governor running for president in 2011's "Ides of March." Ryan Gosling plays his idealistic staffer who is quickly introduced to the dirty side of politics.
(Columbia Pictures)
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Supporting South Sudan

Clooney attends voting ceremonies during the first day of voting for the independence referendum in the southern Sudanese city of Juba on Jan. 9, 2011.
(Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
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Talking to the president

Saving Sudan

Clooney was joined by TODAY's Ann Curry on a South Sudan visit in Oct. 2010. The actor says the international community needs to step in. "If we get involved now, we have a shot," he tells TODAY.
(Tim Freccia / The Enough Project)
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Armed and dangerous

With James Bond on hiatus due to MGM's money woes, can Clooney fill the bill as the suave action hero of filmdom? Clooney, shown with Thekla Reuten, stars as an assassin who finds himself in trouble in scenic Italy in 2010's "The American."
(Focus Features)
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Seeking justice

Clooney leaves Milan's law courts after testifying against three individuals accused of fraudulently using his name to promote a fashion label at Palazzo di Giustizia on July 16, 2010 in Milan, Italy. The actor testified as a civil plaintiff during the trial against the individuals running fashion label GC Exclusive by George Clooney.
(Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)
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He's our guy

Lady in red

Clooney and then-girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis attend the 82nd Annual Academy Awards held at the Kodak Theater on March 7, 2010 in Hollywood, Calif. The couple split in June 2011 after two years together.
(Dan MacMedan / WireImage)
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The Reitman stuff

Clooney and director Jason Reitman attend a news conference for "Up In The Air" during Day 3 of the Rome Film Festival at the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome on Saturday, October 17, 2009.
(Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)
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When in Rome ...

George Clooney and Italian actress Elisabetta Canalis walk the red carpet before a screening of the movie "Up in The Air" at the 4th edition of the Rome Film Festival, on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009.
(Andrew Medichini / AP)
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Looking 'Up'

Clooney plays an unapologetic corporate downsizer whose untethered life is consumed by collecting air miles in the film "Up in The Air."
(Paramount Pictures)
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Got their 'Goat'

Clooney stars with Ewan McGregor in "The Men Who Stare at Goats," a film about a down-on-his-luck reporter (McGregor) who gets more than he bargains for when he meets a special forces agent (Clooney) who reveals the existence of a secret, psychic military unit whose goal is to use paranormal powers to end war as we know it.
(Overture Films)
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Compassionate visit

Clooney meets residents as he tours earthquake damage on the sidelines of a G8 summit, in St. Eusanio, near L'Aquila, Italy, on Thursday, July 9, 2009.
(Alessandra Tarantino / AP)
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High-level access

Clooney speaks to the media following a meeting with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on Monday, Feb. 23, 2009. Clooney was urging the new administration to take action on the crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan.
(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP)
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Movie night with dad

Clooney joins his father, veteran journalist Nick Clooney, for a screening of the film "Good Night, and Good Luck," and a journalism panel at the Newseum in Washington on Monday, Jan. 26, 2009.
(Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
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He's used to whistles

Clooney and Renee Zellweger, stars of the film "Leatherheads," arrive at the Historic Salisbury Station in Salisbury, N.C, on March 26, 2008, on the third stop on a Whistle Stop Express tour to promote their film .
(Peter Taylor / Getty Images)
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The usual laughs

Clooney and Frances McDormand star in the 2008 Coen Brothers film "Burn After Reading" about two gym employees who try to blackmail a CIA agent over a computer disk containing his memoirs.
(Focus Features)
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Throwback

Clooney is touted as "The Last Movie Star" on the cover of the March 3, 2008, issue of Time magazine. "He's a throwback to what movie stars used to be," friend Grant Heslov says in the article. "You see him and you think, Wouldn't that be a great life?"
(Time)
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It's a snap

Clooney directs and stars in "Leatherheads," a romantic comedy set in the world of 1920s football, where the owner of a professional team drafts a strait-laced college sensation, only to watch his new coach fall for his fiancée.
(Universal Pictures)
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Boots on the ground

Clooney, who has been designated as U.N. messenger of peace by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, visits the Zamzam refugee camp in North Darfur, Sudan, in late January 2008.
(UNAMID via AP)
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He comes in peace

Clooney speaks at at news conference at United Nations headquarters in New York on Jan. 31, 2008, after being designated a messenger of peace. Clooney was joining eight other well-known individuals to campaign for U.N. causes.
(Stephen Chernin / Getty Images)
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Lucky 'Thirteen'

In "Ocean's Thirteen," Danny Ocean (Clooney) rounds up the boys for a third heist and they're out for revenge after casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) cuts one of the original 11, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliot Gould), out of a deal.
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
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Peace be with them

Clooney and fellow actor Don Cheadle, left, are presented the 2007 Peace Summit Award by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the city hall in Rome on Dec. 13, 2007. Clooney and Cheadle received the award from Nobel peace prize laureates for their campaign to help the people of Sudan's Darfur region after 4-1/2 years of war.
(Dario Pignatelli / Reuters)
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Leg up on other ladies

Clooney steps out with girlfriend Sarah Larson for the "Michael Clayton" premiere at The Zeigfeld on Sept. 24, 2007, in New York. Larson was injured during an accident while riding on the back of Clooney's motorcyle. The pair collided with a car in New Jersey.
(Scott Wintrow / Getty Images)
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Gotta hand it to him

Clooney looks up as he places his hands in cement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on June 5, 2007. Clooney was out to promote his new film, "Ocean's Thirteen."
(Damian Dovarganes / AP)
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Top of the heap

Clooney's hectic year in 2005 was acknowledged with plenty of praise from his colleagues. In addition to his two nominations for "Good Night," he also won his first Oscar for best supporting actor thanks to his work in "Syriana."
(Reed Saxon / AP)
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Playing with fire

Speaking out

For Clooney, 2005 was a year to be outspoken not only on screen but in person. He hesitated to attack the Bush administration directly, but was unequivocal about his own liberalism, and about the political messages in "Good Night" and in "Syriana," which depicted a tangle of power struggles in the Middle East.
(Domenico Stinellis / AP)
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'Good' fortune

Clooney went behind the camera in 2005 to direct "Good Night, and Good Luck," about Edward R. Murrow's battle against Sen. Joe McCarthy. His second feature film received tremendous praise, and Clooney himself scored two Oscar nods for best director and best original screenplay.
(Melinda Sue Gordon / AP)
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Family ties

Clooney shares a moment with his father Nick and his mother Nina at a 2002 tribute to Rosemary Clooney, George's famous aunt. Two years later, Nick Clooney would launch a campaign for Kentucky's 4th congressional district. Despite well-stocked campaign coffers (thanks, at least in part, to some Hollywood fundraisers) he lost the race.
(Michael Jacobs / Zuma Press)
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Behind the camera

In 2002, Clooney stepped to the other side of the camera, directing "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," the somewhat-true memoir of game show producer Chuck Barris, which co-starred Drew Barrymore and Sam Rockwell. Though reviews were mixed, Clooney got credit for attempting an audacious project without an obvious Hollywood hook.
(Miramax)
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What a team

Clooney's efforts in "Ocean's Eleven" wouldn't have been possible without his co-star, Brad Pitt. The two were close both on- and offscreen. Here, along with Pitt's then-wife, Jennifer Aniston, they check out an Armani collection during a 2001 Milan fashion show. Clooney is no stranger to Italy, having bought a villa on the shores of Lake Como in 2002.
(Luca Bruno / AP)
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Stirred, not shaken

Never was Clooney's dashing rogue persona more perfect than in 2001's "Ocean's Eleven," in which he teamed again with Steven Soderbergh. Clooney's portrayal of unflappable thief Danny Ocean (with Julia Roberts as Tess, the ex-wife he can't quite give up) was a dazzling combination of Rat Pack suave and modern smarts. The film put to rest any doubt that Clooney was an A-list star out of the glamorous mold of Hollywood's past.
(Warner Bros.)
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Giving back

Clooney speaks at a Dec. 12, 2001, news conference for the September 11 Fund as fund CEO Joshua Gotbaumb looks on. In the months after the terrorist attacks, Clooney was instrumental not only in fundraising but in corralling Hollywood star power to produce "America: A Tribute to Heroes," a televised memorial to the World Trade Center victims that raised over $100 million. It was a sign that Clooney had found ways to harness his celebrity for worthy causes.
(Shannon Stapleton / Reuters)
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Calm in the 'Storm'

Clooney explored his dramatic roots with a leading role in "The Perfect Storm." He played Billy Tyne, the real-life fishing-boat captain whose craft vanished in a massive freak storm off the shores of Massachusetts. Despite major buzz, "Storm" never gathered quite as much momentum as the surprise success of "O Brother."
(Warner Bros. via Zuma Press)
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'Brother'-ly love

Clooney (second from top) went for something completely different in the Coen brothers' 2000 bluegrass-tinged comedy, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" As a bumbling convict in a tale loosely based on Homer's "Odyssey," Clooney got to stretch his pipes for the film's singing scenes -- only to have his voice dubbed over, despite his having practiced singing for weeks.
(Touchstone Pictures)
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Paying off

"O Brother" was a sharp shift in tone for Clooney, but it didn't go unnoticed. He won a 2001 Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy for his efforts.
(Kevork Djansezian / AP)
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Paging Dr. Ross

Needless to say, the pivotal event in Clooney's career was his role as Dr. Doug Ross on NBC's "ER." He started with the show's pilot episode in 1994 and continued for five seasons. Clooney (pictured here in 1999) eventually wanted to pursue his film career and had the womanizing Ross written out of the show. The character eventually settled down in Seattle after fathering twins with head nurse Carol Hathaway (Julianna Margulies).
(Getty Images)
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Midas touch

Clooney put a slightly different spin on the lovable rogue theme with his role in David O. Russell's biting 1999 Gulf War action-satire, "Three Kings." Clooney, Ice Cube and Mark Wahlberg played U.S. soldiers who uncover hidden treasure in the Iraqi desert.
(Warner Bros. via Reuters)
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Back on track

Clooney's movie career didn't suffer long after "Batman." The following year, he starred in Steven Soderbergh's "Out Of Sight." Clooney's portrayal of Jack Foley set off a chain of charming thief roles for the chisel-jawed actor. It also marked the start of a fruitful creative partnership between Clooney and Soderbergh that continues today.
(Universal Studios via Getty Images)
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Odd 'Man' out

Clooney followed his stellar on-screen selections with at least one dud: 1997's "Batman and Robin," in which he put on the famous cowl alongside Chris O'Donnell as youthful sidekick, Robin. Clooney did a capable job of portraying the caped crusader, but a lagging script and some puzzling touches by director Joel Schumacher (the rubber nipple suit, anyone?) left fans unimpressed.
(Getty Images)
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Ladies' man

Clooney with his then-girlfriend, French actress Celine Balitran, at the 1998 Emmy awards. Clooney's love life has largely remained a mystery, and after divorcing wife Talia Balsam in 1993, he has since vowed never to remarry. Guessing who Clooney might be dating has become an ongoing parlor game for celeb-watchers.
(Albert Ortega / Getty Images)
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Big daddy

Clooney's fondness for the small screen didn't keep him from some marquee moments on the big one -- and 1996 was his banner year (if you discount his role in 1988's "Return of the Killer Tomatoes!"). Clooney had starring roles in "From Dusk Till Dawn" and in "One Fine Day," opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, shown here with him and child actors.
(Getty Images via 20th Century Fox)
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Look who's walking

Clooney and Connie Selleca in a promo still from the 1990 ABC series "Baby Talk," a spinoff of the "Look Who's Talking" movie franchise. Neither actor stayed long on the short-lived series. Selleca quit before the series went into regular production, and Clooney departed soon after.
(Toronto Star via ZUMA Press)
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Just the 'Facts'

Before his "ER" days, Clooney hit the small screen in 1985 as charming, mulleted handyman George Burnett on the NBC sitcom "The Facts of Life." Imagine the show's mousse budget.
(NBC)
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Growing up George

Born in 1961 in Lexington, Ky., Clooney was raised outside Cincinnati, where his father, Nick, was a TV anchor. The A-list actor has one sister, Ada (pictured here), and several famous relatives: Singer Rosemary Clooney is his aunt, and his cousin is actor Miguel Ferrer.
(Splash News via Newscom)
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Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.

In a highly-anticipated speech to Congress Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that a potential nuclear deal being negotiated by major powers including the United States "paves Iran's path to the bomb."